ACCUSED: Jacquen Appollis, Steveno van Rhyn and Kelly Smith
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
A COP in the witness box explained how claims that Joshlin Smith was sold to a sangoma led to a dead end.
Constable Refilwe Sekhobe on Monday took the stand in the Joshlin Smith trial in the Western Cape High Court, sitting at the White City Multipurpose Centre in Saldanha Bay.
The detective said days after the six-year-old meisie went missing, she visited all the accused - the child’s mother Racquel "Kelly" Smith, Jacquen "Boeta" Appollis and Steveno "Steffie" van Rhyn.
She revealed that she also spoke to former accused Laurentia Lombaard who appeared jittery.
All charges against Lombaard were previously dropped.
Sekhobe told the court: “I learnt from Mr Appollis that Ms Lombaard had been at the residence on the day of Joshlin’s disappearance.
“I took down her statement in Afrikaans, read it back to her, and then told her she was excused. She only mentioned someone known to her [Lombaard] as Steffie.
TESTIMONY: Constable Refilwe Sekhobe
Image: Ayanda Ndamane
Sekhobe said that when SAPS arrived to follow up with Van Rhyn, he was sitting down and answering questions about his whereabouts to the crowd.
She added: “He confirmed that he was at Smith and Appollis’ residence on the day Joshlin went missing.
“He also mentioned that Laurentia was at the premises. What he could recall was that Ms Laurentia left with Joshlin and when she came back she was alone, but later confirmed that he didn’t see that happen. That was the last time the child was seen.
“I remember he said that he suspected that Laurentia’s boyfriend might have given the child to a sangoma.”
UPSET: Josh Emke, Joshlin Smith's father
Image: File
Sekhobe says that Van Rhyn appeared as if he was on drugs and didn’t take his statement, but they went to search at known sangomas for evidence that Joshlin was there.
She explained: “The information was followed up. There wasn’t a specific name of the sangoma given by Mr Van Rhyn as to which sangoma the child had been sold to. The nearby sangomas in the area were visited and there was no evidence found of Joshlin being there.”
Meanwhile, Joshlin’s father Josh Emke says he was disappointed to hear that Kelly seemed to be enjoying the spotlight on her following the disappearance of his daughter.
Saldanha SAPS station commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Lincoln Sebola testified that Kelly had told him that her daughter’s disappearance made her famous.
The worried pa said: “I just want to know why Kelly told the court that my child’s disappearance is making her famous.
“It made me very sad because it is very difficult for me to accept that my child is missing.”